


Air Show

by yarnandtea



Category: Golden Girls
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 12:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17001873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: The girls decide to go to the air show. The usual shenanigans ensue.





	Air Show

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epeeblade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epeeblade/gifts).



“Good morning, girls!” Rose breezed into the kitchen and over to the counter, taking in a deep breath to smell the fresh muffins sitting in a basket. “Oh, those smell wonderful. Who baked?” She got out a plate and grabbed some fruit from the fridge, humming to herself as she got her breakfast ready.

“I did,” Sophia answered. She waved the muffin in her hand at Dorothy, who was nursing a cup of coffee. “This one kept waking me up all night with her muttering and her cackling. By the time she finally stopped, I couldn’t get back to sleep, so,” she shrugged, “muffins.”

“Muttering and cackling?” Rose gave Dorothy a perplexed look as she joined them at the table. “Are you all right, Dorothy?”

“I am,” Dorothy declared, tired yet satisfied. “Term papers are all graded. It was a late night of terrible grammar and ridiculous and unsupported conclusions, but it was worth it.” She placed a hand over her heart and grinned, “My weekend is mine!”

“Oh?” Blanche said from the doorway, “and what are you going to do with it, then? Hopefully something more exciting than _reading_.” She shot Dorothy a dubious look. “I saw that stack of books by your chair. Dorothy, you really do need to find yourself a companion. Ooh, muffins!”

Dorothy shook her head and gestured at the group. “In case it has escaped your notice, I _have_ companions.” Under her breath, she added, “More than I need most of the time.”

“Eat your muffin, pussycat,” Sophia said, pushing an untouched plate closer to her daughter.

“You know what I mean,” Blanche scoffed, joining them at the table. “I’m talking about a _man_. Someone who’ll get you out of the house, take you on adventures.” She smiled a secret smile to herself. “Like what I’ve got planned for tonight.”

Dorothy narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth, but Rose jumped in, trying to avoid the rise of another argument. “Dorothy’s right, Blanche, we’ve got plenty of companionship here. I don’t see why the four of us can’t go out and have an adventure of our own!”

“Whatever you say,” Blanche shook her head and opened up the paper, flipping through the pages with only halfhearted interest. “I still think what Dorothy needs is a good--oh, look, there’s an air show today.” A dreamy smile crossed her face. “Mmm, pilots.”

“Well, there you go!” Rose exclaimed. “That sounds like the perfect adventure for us!” Dorothy looked skeptical and Blanche was still off in whatever fantasy she’d called up at the mention of pilots. Desperate to rein in the conversation, Rose blurted out, “You know, my nephew’s a pilot.”

Blanche came out of her reverie and perked up.

Sophia rolled her eyes and muttered “Oh, boy,” under her breath.

Dorothy took a deep breath, as if to steel herself and said, “A pilot in the _air force_ , Rose?”

“Well, where else would he be a pilot?” Rose asked, defensive.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dorothy drawled, “I thought maybe he might be the captain of the St. Olaf Crop Dusters’ Brigade or something.”

“Don’t be silly,” Rose said, shaking her head. Really, how did Dorothy come up with these ideas? “St. Olaf hasn’t got a crop dusters’ brigade.”

“Well, then, I stand corrected.”

“It’s more of a team. Really just Old Gustav and his son, Young Gustav. You know,” she grinned and leaned forward, “It’s actually a really funny story. They’ve got this rickety old duster plane that’s been in their family for, oh, I’d say—”

“So, this air show,” Sophia interrupted, leaning over to look at the paper with Blanche. “Do they have jets? Fighter jets?”

“Well, I’d imagine so,” Blanche answered.

Rose pouted, but at least the conversation had turned. “Do they let you see the jets up close?” Sophia pressed.

“Ma, why would you want to see a fighter jet up close?”

Sophia shrugged. “Marvel of technology, aren’t they? Can’t I be curious?”

Dorothy gave her a hard look. “No.”

“Dorothy!” Rose protested. “I think it’s wonderful that Sophia’s got an interest in technology. You should be encouraging her!”

“Encouraging Ma only ever leads to trouble.”

“Oh, come on, pussycat, let’s go to the air show. Maybe we can even find a pilot for you.”

“I don’t need a pilot. But,” she threw her hands up in the air, “I guess it would be nice to get out of the house and get a bit of fresh air. Oh, all right, let’s go to the air show.”

“Ooh, how exciting!” Blanche said, getting up from the table. “ _What_ am I going to wear?”

\--

The air show was _loud_. And windy. Rose was glad she’d brought a scarf, despite the warmth of the day.

Despite her initial reluctance, Dorothy seemed to be enjoying herself too.

“How do you think they do it?” Rose asked.

“Do what, Rose?” A hint of suspicion entered Dorothy’s voice.

Rose started to answer, but stopped when a muffled announcement came through the loudspeakers. “Oh! They’re about to give a tour to see the jets. We should let Sophia know—” she cut off, looking around. “Where is Sophia?”

“Blanche went to try to sneak into the pilots’ break room,” Dorothy sighed. “Ma went with.”

“Oh, dear. Should we try to go find them?”

“We probably should. But it’s been so nice and quiet,” she paused and glanced at Rose. “Mostly.”

Rose shot her a puzzled look. “I don’t know how you can call it quiet with all of those planes zooming overhead.”

“Of course you don’t, Rose. All right, come on. Let’s go see what kind of trouble they’ve managed to get themselves into.”

They turned for the low building situated at the edge of the airfield across from the hangars. Pilots had been coming and going from it all morning. Rose supposed Blanche thought she could talk her way in. Before they reached the building, a door on the side slammed open and a tall young man pulled a protesting woman outside.

“Ah,” Dorothy sighed and clucked her tongue. “Too late.”

They hurried their steps, getting close enough to hear what the man was saying. “Look lady, really, I’m flattered. But it’s not gonna happen. For one thing, I’m married—”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” Blanche crooned still trying to turn the situation to her advantage, “but it could be our little secret.”

“Yeah, again, thanks but—Aunt Rose?”

The man stopped short and stared at Dorothy and Rose as they approached. Rose blinked at being addressed and then took a closer look at the man. “Jack? Is that you?”

Blanche stared at the young man, then at Rose. “ _This_ is your nephew? Why, I was picturing a young slip of a lad, not this strapping hunk of a _man_!” She slapped Jack playfully on the chest, grinning.

“What did you think, Blanche,” Dorothy rolled her eyes, “they let children fly the planes?”

“Well, Dorothy of course not! Don’t be _silly_.” Blanche grinned up at Jack. “But words like nephew don’t really conjure up such a delicious sight!”

Jack scrunched up his face and let go of Blanche. “Friend of yours?” he asked Rose.

“This is my roommate, Blanche,” Rose introduced her, then waved at Dorothy, “and one of my other roommates, Dorothy. Girls, this is my nephew, Jack.” She stepped forward, opening her arms to hug him. “Oh, Jack, it’s wonderful to see you! Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be in Miami?”

“I didn’t know,” he explained. “Or, at least, I thought I’d only be here for a two-hour layover. Didn’t think it was worth mentioning. But one of the pilots for the show got sick and they asked me to step in at the last minute, since I was here.”

“It was a marvelous show! Oh, we haven’t seen each other in years!” Not since her Charlie’s funeral, actually, but she didn’t want to mention that. Instead, she chided him gently, “You missed the last family reunion.”

“I know,” he admitted, “it couldn’t be helped.” He gestured to the airfield. “Work.” He gave her a scrutinizing look. “How are you doing, Aunt Rose?” He looked back over at Blanche. “You seem to have fallen in with some…interesting friends.”

“Oh,” she waved a hand, smiling, “I’m doing all right. I’d love to catch up! Can I make you dinner?”

Blanche and Dorothy both winced. “Or, you could go out somewhere,” Dorothy suggested, “no need to cook, Rose. I’m sure your nephew here wouldn’t want to put you to all that trouble. There are plenty of fine restaurants here in Miami.”

“Wish I could, but I fly back home in about an hour. Was only sticking around for the show. Sara’s already ticked that I got delayed.”

“Of course! You’ve got the baby at home, too. How is little Charlie?” Rose brightened. “Do you have pictures?”

Jack grinned and gestured back at the building. “Don’t have my wallet in my flight suit, but I’ve got a few snapshots inside. Come on, I’ll show you,” he paused, looking back at Dorothy and Blanche. “Your friends are welcome to come, too, if they can behave themselves.”

“Well!” Blanche placed a hand at her throat. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, sir. Really, I always comport myself like a proper lady.”

Jack’s eyebrows raised.

“He means look but don’t touch, Blanche. Hands to yourself.” She put her hands on Blanche’s shoulders. “No worries, I’ll keep her in line. Assuming Ma doesn’t—wait.”  She turned to Blanche. “Where is Ma?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“She went with you, didn’t she?”

“Well, yes, but then she said she wanted to go get a closer look at the planes.”

“Wait, there’s some lady just wandering around the field unescorted?” Jack asked, straightening in alarm.

“Oh, it’s all right,” Rose assured him, “Sophia’s harmless, really—”

A screech of whistles sounded and a whole lot of shouting erupted from the airfield. They all whipped around to see one of the planes rolling slowly along, as if on its own, while several pilots and security personnel trailed after it, trying to jump on.

Squinting, Rose could just make out a fluff of silver hair in the cockpit. “Oh, dear.”

“Harmless, huh?” Jack asked her.

\--

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Sophia declared as she walked through the door. “So many switches and dials! I couldn’t figure out how to get it going more than five miles an hour, let alone up in the air! No one was hurt.”

“Ma, the big deal is that you tried to _steal_ a jet belonging to the United States Air Force! Right in the middle of an air show!” Dorothy followed her mother inside, only refraining from slamming the door because Rose and Blanche were right behind her. “You’re just lucky Rose’s nephew was there to sort everything out and keep you from being arrested!”

“Oh, I hope Jack doesn’t get in trouble over this,” Rose worried, making a beeline for the fridge.

“Never you fret,” Blanche assured her, going to the cabinet to get out plates. They reached the table at the same time, setting down the plates and cheesecake. Blanche pulled out a seat for Rose, “A handsome, smooth-talking lad like that will have no problems keeping his head above water.” She started to cut the cake, dishing out slices as Dorothy and Sophia joined them at the table. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “You know, he’s really _too_ attractive to be a soldier, fighting in wars and all of that. He should be an astronaut.”

“Jack loves looking up at the stars,” Rose agreed, “but he says he’d rather see space through a telescope than in person. Besides, he does love flying, and he says it’s different in the rocket ships.”

“Huh,” Blanche said, thinking this over. She shrugged. “Oh well.”

Rose took a bite of her cheesecake and took a moment to savor it. “You know,” she said, reaching for another, “there’s still something I don’t understand—”

“Just the one thing, Rose? I would have thought you had to keep a journal.”

Rose brushed off the jibe and turned to Sophia. “What were you going to _do_ with a fighter jet?”

Dorothy and Blanche both paused in their eating, as if this was the first the question was occurring to either of them. As one, they turned to look at Sophia. She cackled.

“I was going to fly it over Agnes Ketter’s house. Give her a good scare. She’s been cheating at Bingo. Thought I could make her think the government was on to her.”

“Ma!” Dorothy stared at her. “You can’t go around giving women your age a ‘good scare’, you’d probably give her such a fright she’d have a heart attack!”

Sophia shrugged. “Either way, I bet she’d stop cheating.”

“Oh, Sophia,” Blanche laughed and waved a hand in her direction. “You really are a character.”

“I am what I am. So,” she asked, reaching for her own plate at last, “that was a fun adventure. What are we going to do tomorrow?”

They all looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. Tomorrow could wait. Today, there was cheesecake and friends. Who needed anything else?

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun with this. Thank you to epeeblade for giving me such a fun idea with the mention of Rose being related to Jack from Stargate (one of my all time favorites). I know he's just a blink and you'll miss it reference, but that spark was what gave me the idea for the whole story. Then I got the image of Sophia trying to steal a jet and, well, here we are. I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> I didn't list this as a crossover since it's pre-SG-1 timeline and Jack's appearance is more of an Easter egg.


End file.
